Frank Serpico in Saugerties(video)

A "person of interest" will be observed entering the building at 169 Ulster Ave. in Saugerties on March 31 at approximately 19 hundred hours.

The subject won't be carrying his weapon or badge, but he'll be armed just the same with his sense of good taste.

All of this cop speak seems perfectly natural when introducing none other than the Frank Serpico, the former whistle-blowing NYPD police officer, who will making a rare public appearance in Ulster County.

Serpico will be charged with "policing" an elite group of chefs March 31 at 7 p.m. at the new Saugerties Performing Arts Factory (SPAF) for its "soft opening."

For sure, doughnuts won't be on the menu.

Billed as a night of "wine, tapas, chocolate and entertainment," the "Against the Grain" event is being shot as a pilot episode for Green Peas TV, an online program that is the brainchild of Jane Watson.

"We built a special stage for this, and we thought it would be fun to open with something like this," said Lou Spina, the operations manager at SPAF.

The online cooking show, "Against the Grain," covers the Hudson Valley and Berkshires and follows celebrated chefs and their moveable feasts in interesting locations.

Watson is collaborating with Spina to produce the episode before a live studio audience in a corner of the 21,000-square-foot facility owned by Gerard and Erica Price.

The couple owns Uniforms USA, Inc., which occupies about half of the industrial complex.

At the upcoming event, the audience will get to sample creations such as hand-made gnocchi, winter-greens salad and stracciatella soup made by culinary wizards like Noah Sheetz of the Chefs' Consortium and Robert Turner, the executive chef at the Omega Food Works.

Rhinebeck chocolatier Oliver Kita will join the mix, and award-winning wines from Whitecliff Vineyard will be paired with each course.

Watson said the whole idea is to promote agritourism while catering to a generation that is watching reality TV.

"Everything that the chef is cooking has to come from a local food producer," she said. "It's a big passion for me to protect our farmers and local farmland and do it in an entertaining way."

During the warmer seasons, Watson takes her moveable feasts to unusual outdoor spots or historic sites.

Last year, she and her crew at Green Peas TV shot episodes at Bannerman Castle on Pollepel Island and Oak Terrace, the childhood home of Eleanor Roosevelt, in Tivoli.

"The idea is to take the chefs out of their restaurants and away from their comfort zones and bring them to unfamiliar territory," Watson said. "It's really asking a lot of them."

The money raised at past moveable feasts has gone to local charities, making it a win-win scenario for everyone.

The audience gets to meet big-name chefs and taste their creations. The local farm-to-table concept is underscored, and the money raised at the events goes toward local projects.

Watson said lately, she's wanted to mix it up a bit and bring in some "nonconformists" to interact with the chefs on stage.

She immediately thought of Frank Serpico, who lives in the mountains somewhere in Columbia County.

Serpico became a household name in 1971 when he testified before the Knapp Commission against corrupt officers in the New York City Police Department.

He went public about it in 1970 and paid a big price for doing so.

During a drug bust in Brooklyn, he was shot in the face at point-blank range while his fellow officers did nothing to help him.

After the trial in 1971, he retired and left for Europe, where he lived for almost a decade.

His story gripped the nation and eventually was made into the 1973 film "Serpico," starring Al Pacino.

Watson, who has been working with Serpico to shoot teasers for Green Peas TV on the upcoming "Against the Grain" event, said he was a perfect fit for what she had in mind.

"When Frank went to Europe, he lived on an organic farm and got very interested in how food was being raised," she said.

"He made sense as a guest for our episode because not only is he a nonconformist, but he believes in supporting our local farmers."

While the production itself will be primarily the work of Watson and her crew, she has gotten enormous support from the partners at the Saugerties Performing Arts Factory.

Spina and the Prices are glad to lend their space for the event and believe it's a great way to introduce themselves and their mission for the arts in Saugerties.

"Ours is like a match made in heaven," Spina said about his partnership with the Prices.

Already, Erica Price has transformed half of the industrial building into a theater, doing much of the physical labor herself.

"This is about a woman who was concerned about how a community can come together through the arts, and together, we're doing it. Our motto is 'All the arts under one roof,' and it's happening," Spina said.

While "Against the Grain" marks the first public event at SPAF, Spina said he and the Prices plan to feature live theater, opera, cabaret, art exhibits and even art classes in the coming months.

"This is going to be big," Spina said. "It's going to be very big, and our place is magnificent."

Tickets for "Against the Grain" with Frank Serpico are $75 and can be purchased by calling (845) 246-7723. Ten percent of the ticket sales will go toward local food pantries and soup kitchens.